It's been awhile since I wondered what this meant. Wicked did an excellent job of explaining, but that was when I knew it all. I followed Murfs Link to Wikipedia, yup still lost. Actually it made me want to read this again, yes that bad. If someone can break it down so the knowledge impaired can understand, we'd (I'd) appreciate it.
ORP, Barney style please
- Thread starter Cake_Boss
- Start date
From The Man. This was the article I read that explained it to me. ORP is probably the single most complicated thing to try and understand in marine aquaria.
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-12/rhf/feature/index.php
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-12/rhf/feature/index.php
I agree its complicated, but it has significant impact day to day, is never talked about, and has the most untapped potential as a reef keeping tool.
The best way to explain it is;
When iron rusts it is being atomically reduced, and its solid state is being changed.
Bleach or peroxide removing color from hair, clothing, etc, are other examples of radical oxidation.
Oxidizing is basically rust, but instead of iron, oxygen and other oxidizers (there are many different oxidizing molecules) are reducing dead organics atomic state. (It also effects other materials in the system, but at a MUCH slower rate)
There is a constant balance between organics present, and oxidizers present, and you never want to have the balance too far on either side, but the ratio will effect water clarity, nutrient levels, and thus animal behavior and growth. Live animals are also sensitive to these levels, and changes should be made very slowly.
This is a tool used by many public water sanitation systems, and is the sole motivation for dosing ozone.
The best way to explain it is;
When iron rusts it is being atomically reduced, and its solid state is being changed.
Bleach or peroxide removing color from hair, clothing, etc, are other examples of radical oxidation.
Oxidizing is basically rust, but instead of iron, oxygen and other oxidizers (there are many different oxidizing molecules) are reducing dead organics atomic state. (It also effects other materials in the system, but at a MUCH slower rate)
There is a constant balance between organics present, and oxidizers present, and you never want to have the balance too far on either side, but the ratio will effect water clarity, nutrient levels, and thus animal behavior and growth. Live animals are also sensitive to these levels, and changes should be made very slowly.
This is a tool used by many public water sanitation systems, and is the sole motivation for dosing ozone.
Felt the same way, when RHF says he struggles with it then why bother right? I will say I have found monitoring ORP to be a very good tool. Obviously I don't understand it well enough to always know what it means but I do know when my ORP is around the 350 range my corals are the happiest and when it's lower than 150 nothing looks great. It sometime helps me to understand why something in my tank is having issues when all other parameters are "normal".
I have also found it to be a good indicator of how different foods, filter media, and added supplements affect my tanks " equilibrium" as a whole. I know my rambling offers no good explanation for anyone but I can say for sure I will be using it as a tool for a long time to come.
On a side note I want to say for any people unfamiliar with ORP, my numbers mentioned above should not be interpreted as "correct". It's just appears to be correct for my tank. The ORP sweet spot will differ from tank to tank. In my short time in this hobby the number one thing I have learned is consistency is key and I really feel like ORP can help determine how stable the system is and act as an indicator for what actions affect my system the most.
I have also found it to be a good indicator of how different foods, filter media, and added supplements affect my tanks " equilibrium" as a whole. I know my rambling offers no good explanation for anyone but I can say for sure I will be using it as a tool for a long time to come.
On a side note I want to say for any people unfamiliar with ORP, my numbers mentioned above should not be interpreted as "correct". It's just appears to be correct for my tank. The ORP sweet spot will differ from tank to tank. In my short time in this hobby the number one thing I have learned is consistency is key and I really feel like ORP can help determine how stable the system is and act as an indicator for what actions affect my system the most.
Sort of. I'm by no means an expert, but ORP seems to me to be a measure of the relative abundance of oxidizers to reducers. There are always going to be this kind of reaction in organic systems, that's why you hear so often about "anti-oxidants" in foods. It's a measure of the number of free radicals that are able to start chemical reactions, usually with otherwise stable species.
Basically yes.
The real question is, what is ORP's role in the aquarium? Is the high or low ORP the cause of your dieing corals? Or is your dieing corals the cause of the high ORP?
When scientists can't even decide what ORP's function is in the wild. I find it hard to be beneficial in the aquarium. It is another thing you can measure, but what benefit does it give you is yet to be seen.
The real question is, what is ORP's role in the aquarium? Is the high or low ORP the cause of your dieing corals? Or is your dieing corals the cause of the high ORP?
When scientists can't even decide what ORP's function is in the wild. I find it hard to be beneficial in the aquarium. It is another thing you can measure, but what benefit does it give you is yet to be seen.